SEMF
Report by Abigayle Smyth
Agenda:
- 878AD: an interactive experience in Winchester designed in partnership with Ubisoft
- Digital interpretation at Colchester Castle
- The Glastonbury Abbey Stories App
- Digital interpretation in the new galleries at Norwich Castle
Talk 1: 878AD Winchester
Speakers: Jaane Rowehl – Hampshire Cultural Trust (Independent charity, founded by councils to run locations more efficiently) () & James Tier, Historic Winchester ()
Using AR (Artificial Reality) and gaming to bring history to life.
Jaane spoke about the unique problems faced by Winchester – it is historically extremely significant both politically and as the birthplace of the English, but hard to make the Christian Anglo-Saxons as interesting as Vikings. The history is complicated, leading to a reliance on text heavy panels. In addition their Collection for pivotal moments of the most important era, the late 9th century, is poor. It could best be summed up as small beige things that do not attract much interest.
They were approached to create some AR segments about the city by the games company Ubisoft who had recently made Assassins Creed: Valhalla. In addition, they reached out for app companies and partnered with Sugar (Welsh based App company who had previously done an AR app). Together they created a number of AR segments to present the city, including highlighting the star of the Collection, a gold Christian reliquary. Ubisoft originally envisaged only small video clip and quiz contents which were provided free, but they were able to negotiate some additional AR content for additional fees.
The full tour is 2 hrs to do the whole thing (2km walk plus games and activities), but the majority of visitors had 35–40 minutes engagement.
The Ubisoft content included
- Video segments
- CT Scanning
- Trained costumed interpreters who did their own research and were very passionate. They provided 5–10 minute sections, e.g. storyteller & weaver, shield maker, reeve, etc.
Jaane also spoke about some of the downsides, particularly underestimating the impact of having to provide the “real world” 3D part of sets for the video background when all the money had gone on the projectors, and would have done fewer in hindsight. She also mentioned that it would be beneficial to be more in tune with audience – went with ‘audience we want’ not audience we have which should have been factored in as well.
James then spoke about the audiences engaged by this content and their evaluation of audience expectation v. reality. He explained that Winchester had 4 sites and already covered these with a Super Explorer ticket (all 4 sites). He also spoke about the practicalities of the content: it is accessed via an App accessible by scanning a code at the desk plus a one-off code given out. He also spoke about unexpected downsides, such as some parents automatically assuming that the Assassin’s Creed link mean that they had to be worried about violence in the exhibition, or that some visitors did not have the modern spec phones required to access the app so felt excluded.
Both agree that motivation is higher when you do something with joy, so the decision to ‘gamify’ the experience was a positive bonus to the heritage offering in Winchester.
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Talk 2: Kate Burton, Digital Officer — Digital Interpretation at Colchester Castle
Kate spoke about Colchester’s Augmented Reality project which she had inherited rather than implemented.
It was part of a 2014 £4m redevelopment, and was designed by PEEL Heritage (now Peel X Studio) to complement physical displays.
There is no reliance on physical markers like QR codes around the site, and no need to have a certain type of phone. Instead, compatible tablets are rented out for £1.50 at the entrance desk. When aimed at certain physical items, they reveal an augmented reality story.
Some examples are the re-colouring of a Roman gravestone to bright paint, the reconstruction of a face on a decapitated skull, and the populating of the Norman Great Hall for a banquet.
Kate explained that the AR experience has held up well and people enjoy it (those who provided feedback averaged 4.5 out of 5).
However, with no one on the team that understands the backend of the software, when it eventually stops working it will not be replaced or kept up. She noted that not much thought seemed to have gone into the longevity of such a project, but that it was probably surprising that it was still working after 10 years at all.
Kate listed a few downsides to the project in addition to the lack of ongoing support for the software. One was that regular replacement of the tablets must be factored into costs. She noted that although these doubled as feedback provision, so were dual purpose, but that only 12% provided feedback and so more structured questions might be useful.
Kate also noted that items can never move once they are in the app, as they are location specific, which limited collection movement and display opportunities.
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Talk 3: Glastonbury Abbey – Nick Phillips– Executive Administrator (Admin, interpretation, research, and projects) & Luke Loader
Nick and Luke spoke about Glastonbury Stories, an augmented reality app launched Spring 2023. It was an AHRC & Uni of Reading collaboration.
The App covers Glastonbury church & 36 acres of grounds, as well as Abbey House (19th Century mansion in grounds). They were looking for a way to increase information without lots of new interpretation boards, and 2019 feedback was in favour of apps & digital.
Historic tile designs from the Abbey were used as ‘QR’ code equivalents to give anchor points around the site. People use their own phones to scan and no app is needed. Designs with mythical beasts were chosen as particularly of interest to younger visitors.
Glastonbury worked with Nervous Arcade on the gamification of a tour of the grounds. Each ‘anchor object’ is scanned and is show on the screen in its current state and then there is a “rift in time” and the narrator states that spiritual places are thin places, explains the history of the item, and that you must return to reality by returning each item to their rightful places.
Nervous Arcade had experience of keeping experiences fun particularly for younger audiences, especially the category of ‘explorer families’ – British based families, looking for more things to do in their locality.
They noted that the pandemic was a catalyst for more safe, open air, social distancing projects which allowed funding applications for apps. They have also published a new ‘All the Archaeology of Glastonbury’ book, and the app augmented this book.
Authenticity was paramount to the project – no merlin, sword in stone, just real medieval pilgrimage. Arthur is only mentioned tangentially to a real burial story. However, they were keen to stress the importance of respecting all motivations in visiting Glastonbury, including the spiritual aspects, and hoped this had been reflected in the subject matter. The AR stories were inclusive and reflected not just male monks, but also almswomen, visiting pilgrims, royal patrons, servants, craftsmen.
Practically, the money went into the development of the AR, but also into WIFI antenna boosters for such a large site (and a picnic shelter in the middle of the grounds which hosts a booster too).
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Talk 4: Andrew Ferrara: Norwich Castle: Royal Palace Reborn
Norwich Castles is undergoing a major renovation to remove the 1890s interpretation which had a large empty single interior, with the ground floor acting only as a perimeter balcony to view the basement level. The new build will attempt to reinstate the Medieval design: reinstate principal ground floor (removing ‘balcony’) and the rooms within that space, and add a gallery display space in the basement below. The new main floor will house a great hall, kings chamber, chapel, and balcony.
The new display will incorporate two different shows which show two different narratives, one Norman, and one Roman. The displays will be projected onto the walls of the rooms allowing visitors to experience them as living history.
One challenge was how to tell those narratives visually rather than with text or sound to minimise sound pollution in enclosed spaces. Worked closely with a digital artist. One with the history of Norwich, one with the roman.
They worked closely with a digital artist to lay the images on to different parts of the architecture as canvas. Allows them to populate and people the spaces. For instance, although projected onto the walls, the characters appear to pass ‘behind’ pillars or exit through archways. There will also be videos showing certain details, such as dressing, weapons use, and explaining ‘how we know what we know’ about the architecture.
In addition to the projections, other heritage interpretation will include:
- 19 metre long stitched in Bayeaux style, telling the Herod the Wake story.
- Period Furniture incorporating touch screen tech
- Opportunity to work closely with communities – choir or cathedral singing medieval manuscript songs.
- Small medieval Jewish community to be represented in recorded poetry.
On a practical level, the digital shows would be initiated by members of staff present at the time, since they have to coincide with multiple school trips daily. One of the practical issues from the Museum’s view will be identifying and monitoring the learning outcomes of the displays, rather than just the enjoyment levels, but that will hopefully become clearer once the space reopens.